New York State Teacher Certification Test

Multi-subject Test (Grade-1 - Grade-6):

NYSTCE Exam Review for the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations

Literacy and English Language Arts

Competency:

1. Knowledge of literacy & Language Arts-                17 - 30%

2. Instruction in Foundational Literacy Skills -           17 - 30%

3. Instruction in English Language Arts -                     6 - 10%

4. Analysis, Synthesis, and Application -                           30%

                                                              Total              40- 100%

Sample Q/A:

Q.1. Which novel is credited as  the origin of the bildungsroman, or the "education novel" genre?

Ans: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre

Bildungsroman is German for "education novel."  This term is also used in English to describe so -called "apprenticeship" novels  focusing on coming -of-age stories, including youth's struggles and  searches for  things such as identity, spiritual understanding, or the meaning in life. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) is credited as   the origin of this genre. Two of Charles Dickinsons' novels, David Copperfield (1850) and great Expectations (1861), also fit this form H.G. Wells wrote bildungsroman about questing for apprenticeships to address the  complication of modern life in Joan and Peter (1918) and from a Utopian perspective in The Dream(1924). 

Q.2. Which of the following is considered to  be a roman a clef, or a "novel with a key"?

Ans: George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945)

It refers to books that require a real-life frame of reference, or key, for full comprehension.  

Q.3. Unrhymed iambic pentameter is also known as which of the following?

Ans: Blank verse

Q.4. Which of the following refers to a mid-verse pause that interrupts flow?

Ans: Caesura

Q.5. A villanelle is a nineteen-line poem that consists of which of the following?

Ans: 5 tercets & 4 tercets

Q6. Which of the following best describes Aristotle's concept of hamartia in works of tragedy?

Ans: A fatal flaw

Q.7. Who theorized that a tragedy must involve some circumstance in which two values, or two rights, are fatally at odds with one another and conflict directly?

Ans: Hegel

Q.8. Which of the following is  the first step in evaluating an informational text?

Ans: Identify the argument's conclusion

Q.9. Which of the following is NOT considered a  type of appeal for an author to use?

Ans: imagination

Q.10. Which of  the following rhetorical devices exaggerates, ridicules, or pokes fun at human flaws or ideas?

Ans: Satire

Q.11. An author arguing that  his point is correct because everybody else already agrees  with it is an example of which persuasive technique?

Ans: Bandwagon appeal

Q.12 Which of the following is Not one of the first three steps of evaluating an author's argument?

Ans: Evaluate if the author's argument is complete

Q.13. Which of the following affixes refers  to the -o- in "speedometer"?

Ans: intermix

Q.14. Adding the suffix -ness to a  word typically does which of the following?

Ans: Changes an adjective to a noun

Q.15. Which  of   the following  is not considered a common adjective suffix?

Ans: achy.

Q.16. Which of  the following defines    the noun suffix -ation?

Ans: Action, state, result 

Q.17. Which of the following is the least used form of narration used in literature?

Ans: second-person

Q.18. Which of  the following lists  the terms of chronological plots in order from first to last?

Ans: Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution

Q.19. Who is credited with first using the metaphor of a city, state, or city-state as a ship?

Ans: Alcaeus

Q.20. How many forms of irony are there?

Ans: 3

21. If a writer alludes to another piece of literature, that writer is doing which of the following?

Ans: Referencing it

22. David Elkind's term "adolescence's is derived from which classical story?

Ans: Daedalus and Icarus

23. Which of the following is not a commonly used and discussed literary theory?

Ans: Precolonial theory

24. Dialect can be used in all of the following situations, Except:

Ans: Professional contexts

25. Which of the following writers is not considered a Dark Romantic?

Ans: Ralph Waldo Emerson

26. langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Paul Robeson were members of which literary movement?

Ans: Harlem Renaissance

27. Which of  the following writers is included in the postmodernist movement?

Ans: Kurt Vonnegut

28. Speeches should be delivered in which manner?

Ans: Natural and conversational

29. An ad hominem argument does which of the following?

ans: Attacks the person behind an idea rather than refuting the idea itself

30. An apophasis argument does which of  the following?

Ans: Indirectly brings attention to a flaw in an opponent's credibility

31. Which of the following is not considered a type of mood?

Ans: Conjunctive

32. How many different degrees of relative adjectives are there?

Ans: 3

33. In general, adverbs may modify all of the following, Except:

Ans: proper noun

34. Which of  the following is an imperative statement?

Ans: go  to the post office for me 

35. Which of  the following is not a  word used to combine nouns to make a compound subject?

Ans: also

36. Which of  the following is always singular?

Ans: each

37. Identify the indirect object of the following sentence: "We taught the old dog a new trick."

Ans: the old dog

38. Identify the infinitive of the following sentence:"The animals have enough food to eat for the night."

Ans: to eat

39. How many  types  of sentences are there?

Ans: five

40. Which of the following sentences correctly expresses   the idea of parallelism?

Ans: The flurry of blows left him staggered, discombobulated, and overwhelmed before  falling

41. Identify the phrase, "The music paused,'in the following sample sentence:

"The music paused, she continued to  dance through the crowd."

Ans: Essential appositive

42. Which of  the following correctly implements the use of parentheses?

Ans: The rattlesnake is a dangerous snake of North and  South America

43. Which of the following correctly describes   the placement  of punctuation in reference to quotations?

Ans: periods and commas are put inside quotation  marks; colons and semicolons go outside.

44. Which of the following correctly implements   the use of commas?

Ans: He  is meeting me at 456 Delaware Avenue, Washington, D.C. tomorrow  morning.

45. Which of  the following correctly implements the word"affect" as  a noun?

Ans: The patient had a  flat affect during her examination.

46. "Affect" and "effect" would be considered which of   the following?

Ans: Homophones

47. All of  the following are terms in English that signal causes, Except:

Ans: Therefore

48. Which of the following describes logical conclusions that readers  make based on their observations and previous knowledge?

Ans: Inferences

49. Which of the following is most important when drawing conclusions from a text?

Ans: The   conclusions are supported directly by the text

50. All of  the following are true about summaries, Except:

Ans: Summaries should represent  the author's main point, usually in proportion to  the weight given in the original text.

51. All of the following are used for good comprehension, except:

Ans: text-to others  connection

52. Chinese uses which type of writing system?

Ans: Logographic

53. Which of the following is an adjectival suffix?

Ans: -ish

54. Which of  the following further defines literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute, and use printed and written materials associated with varying  contexts"?

Ans: UNESCO

55. Which theory of language development assumes that language is first learned by imitating the speech of adults?

Ans: learning approach

56. Which of the following is a more structured form of brainstorming?

Ans: Free writing

57. Which of the following is considered the main idea of an essay?

Ans: thesis

58. Which of the following are supporting details to the main idea of  a paragraph or a passage?

Ans: examples

59. Which of  the following is not a transitional word or phrase in  the concession category?

Ans: Broadly speaking

60. Which of the following would not be considered formal writing?

Ans: private letters

61. Which of the following sentences contains a verb in the passive voice?

Ans: I was told that there would be food available at the party

62. The Greek word epistle means:

Ans: letter

63. What are the two major principles used   to create an orderly blog?

Ans: Blog layouts need more subheadings, graphics, and other indications of what information follows, and legibility is crucial because onscreen reading is hard on the eyes.

64. Which of the following correctly matches   the term with its definition?

Ans: Thesis: A brief proposal of a solution to a problem

65. All of the following are true about paraphrasing, except:

Ans: Paraphrasing does not require a citation for any paraphrased material.

66. While writing a  research paper, a student cites a study on the subject from three years prior. What type of source is the student's research paper?

Ans: secondary

67. Which  of the following citations follows the Turban format?

Ans: Gaines, Andra. "Ten Things You Won't Believe Dragons Do."studies in Fantasy Fiction 3, no. 8 (2019): 42-65

68. When teaching students  who are actively listening, it is important for a teacher to know which of the following?

Ans: the average speed of thinking is much faster than the speed of speaking, so the gap time should be used to summarize lecture information mentally so students don't lose focus.

69. An assessment finds that a  student is correctly reading 92 percent of the words in a text. Which level of proficiency is the student performing at?

Ans: instructional

70. CRSBI incorporates caring, communication, and curriculum. What does "CRSBI" stand  for?

Ans: Culturally responsive standards-based  instruction 

Field 221: Multi-Subject: Teachers of Childhood
(Grade 1–Grade 6)
Part One: Literacy and English Language Arts

Sample Selected-Response Questions

Competency 0001
Knowledge of Literacy and Language Arts

1. Which factor is most frequently the underlying cause of children's early difficulty in learning to read?

• weak phonological processing skills

Correct Response: B. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of individual variation in literacy development, including knowledge of specific reading difficulties, and knowledge of cognitive, behavioral, environmental, social, cultural, technological, and linguistic factors affecting language and literacy development. Convergent research has shown the most commonly occurring cause of early reading difficulty is weak phonological processing skills. Beginning reading instruction focuses on the development of automatic decoding skills that support the continuing development of reading comprehension, conceptual knowledge, and vocabulary development. When beginning readers have weak phonological processing skills, they have limited knowledge of the component phonemes in spoken words and thus have difficulty connecting letters in printed language to the component sounds and spoken words they represent.

Competency 0001
Knowledge of Literacy and Language Arts

2. Read the passage below from The Phantom Tollbooth, a novel by Norton Juster; then answer the question that follows.

Milo walked slowly down the long hallway and into the little room where the Soundkeeper sat listening intently to an enormous radio set, whose switches, dials, knobs, meters, and speaker covered one whole wall, and which at the moment was playing nothing.

"Isn't that lovely?" she sighed. "It's my favorite program—fifteen minutes of silenceand after that there's a half hour of quiet and then an interlude of lull. Why, did you know that there are almost as many kinds of stillness as there are sounds? But, sadly enough, no one pays any attention to them these days.

"Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn?" she inquired. "Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven't the answer to a question you've been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause in a roomful of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you're all alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful, if you listen carefully."1

In the passage, a series of questions is used primarily to:

• suggest that the world abounds with unheard experiences.

Correct Response: D. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of characteristics, elements, and features of a range of text types in children's literature from a broad range of cultures and periods, including stories (e.g., folktales, legends, fables, fantasy, realistic fiction, myths), drama, poetry, and multimedia versions of texts. In the passage, the Soundkeeper asks Milo a series of questions that describe various ways to experience stillness, such as the "silence just before the dawn," "the quiet and calm just before a storm ends," and "the hush of a country road at night." The Soundkeeper's questions suggest that the world abounds with unheard experiences because people fail to listen attentively to nuances of stillness.

Competency 0002
Instruction in Foundational Literacy Skills

3. As an integral part of planning reading instruction, a fifth-grade teacher provides students with opportunities to interact with objects or illustrations related to important content in planned texts. For example, during an earth science unit, before students read an informational passage about the effects of pollution on the ecosystem of a vernal pool, the teacher arranges a guided class visit to a vernal pool in the area. Which statement best explains a research-based rationale for this practice?

• Background knowledge is an important factor in reading comprehension.

Correct Response: D. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the role of background knowledge in text comprehension and strategies for planning a content-rich, text-rich classroom environment and for promoting independent reading in a wide range of text types and genres to support text comprehension through the development of academic background knowledge. Background knowledge is prior knowledge about a topic that supports reading comprehension and learning new concepts. In the scenario described, the teacher ensures that students have concrete experiences that build background knowledge directly related to the topic of the planned reading assignment. Students will then be able to draw on this prior knowledge when they read the text, supporting and enhancing both their literal and inferential comprehension of the material.

Competency 0002
Instruction in Foundational Literacy Skills

4. A fourth-grade student struggles with literal and inferential comprehension of complex grade-level texts. The teacher has determined that the student meets benchmark oral fluency expectations and has at-grade-level vocabulary and spelling skills. Given this information, which method would be most appropriate for the teacher to use to promote the student's comprehension skills?

• modeling think-aloud and brainstorming strategies to help the student activate prior knowledge

Correct Response: C. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of factors affecting students' development of text comprehension (e.g., vocabulary, background content knowledge, decoding skills, reading fluency). Background knowledge is necessary to help students connect what they know to what they are reading—to understand and make inferences about a text, one must have some understanding of what it is about. To promote this student's comprehension, the teacher should help the student learn to activate and build on prior knowledge. This can be accomplished by modeling strategies such as think-aloud and brainstorming for the student. Such prior knowledge activation is linked to the ability to understand texts that might otherwise be slightly above the student's comprehension level.

Competency 0003
Instruction in English Language Arts

5. Students in a sixth-grade class are preparing to read Laurence Yep's novel Dragonwings, in which the narrator leaves his home in China as a young boy to join his father in California. Over the course of the novel, the father and son confront racial prejudice, experience the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and forge a friendship. Before students begin the novel, they write in their reading journals about a time when they felt like strangers in a strange land. The assignment will most likely enhance students' ability to:

• understand the perspective of the novel's narrator.

Correct Response: D. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of developmentally appropriate, research- and evidence-based assessment and instructional practices to promote students' development of independent strategies that support reading of literature with purpose and understanding (e.g., making and verifying predictions, visualizing, making connections). Writing about a time when they felt like strangers in a strange land will help students relate their personal experience to that of the narrator of Dragonwings. When students can draw connections between themselves and the narrator, they will be more engaged with a novel whose unfamiliar setting might make it challenging. Attempting to draw connections between their own feelings and experiences with those of fictional characters is an independent strategy that will support students' ability to read literature with greater purpose and deeper understanding.

Competency 0003
Instruction in English Language Arts

6. While reading aloud a story to first-grade students, a teacher pauses periodically to make statements about the content of the story. Students respond to each statement nonverbally by raising one finger to indicate agreement and two fingers to indicate disagreement. Which additional action by the students would best help the teacher assess their active listening skills?

• citing evidence to support responses during the read-aloud

Correct Response: B. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of developmentally appropriate assessment and data-driven instructional practices to promote students' skill in using listening strategies that 

Literacy & English Language Arts

1. "Decoding" is also called:

Ans: Alphabetic principle

2. Which of the following genres is most important for children just beginning to become readers in grades k, 1, and 2?

Ans: Alphabet books, wordless picture books, and easy-to -read books

3. a third-grade teacher has several students reading above grade level. Most of the remaining students are reading at grade level. There are also a few students reading below grade level. She decides to experiment. He hypothesis is  that by giving the entire class a chapter book above grade level, high-level readers will be satisfied, grade-level readers will be challenged in a positive way, and students reading below grade level will be inspired to improve. Her method is most likely to:

Ans: fail, producing students at a Frustration reading level. Those reading below grade level are likely to give up entirely. Those reading at grade level are likely to get frustrated  and form habits that will actually slow down their development.

4. A teacher is working with a student who is struggling with reading. The teacher gives him a story with key words missing:

The boy wanted to take the dog for a walk. The boy opened the door. The ________ ran out. The ______looked for the dog. When he found the dog, he was very_________

The student is able to fill in the blanks by considering:

Ans: context. By considering the other ideas in logical order, the student can determine the missing words.

5. Which choice is  the best method of structuring language arts curriculum and instruction?

Ans: Use the written curriculum provided by the school district or specific campus as a foundation for instruction. Schedule regular planning sessions to incorporate a variety of texts and instruction methods, as well as to coordinate instruction with teachers of other subjects.

6. Early in the school year, all members of a group of kindergarten students are able to chant the alphabet. The teacher is now teaching the students what the alphabet looks like in written form. The teacher points to a letter, and the students vocalize the corresponding sound. Alternatively, the teacher vocalizes a phoneme and a student points to it on the alphabet chart. The  teacher is using_______ in her instruction.

Ans: letter -sound correspondence

7. Which of the following describes one difference between role-play writing and early writing?

Ans: In role-play writing, the child writes in scribbles that are only meaningful to him or her. In early writing, the child uses real letters.

8. A story about a  young detective who solves mysteries using  mental and physical skills would most likely be classified as which of the following?

Ans: Action and Adventure

9. If a child appears delayed in speech development, which of the following is the best course to follow?

Ans: use in-depth evaluations and early intervention to assist the child with language delays

10. One of the most important elements in children's literature that captures children's interest is 

Ans: character

11. how should the teacher best deal with an academically talented student who typically finishes work ahead of other students and tends to get into mischief while waiting for others to finish?

Ans: Assign the student an appealing task related to  the subject area that requires creativity, research, and/or in-depth study of the subject, such as creating a play or making a college.

12. Which of the following genres takes an opinion and defends it?

Ans: Essays

13. Which of the following is a developmental skill a child should have before beginning to write?

Ans: Small muscle control

14. What is the term for the final resolution of a fictional plot?

Ans: Denouement

15. Which of the following statements is not accurate regarding why activation of prior knowledge is helpful before, during and after the reading of a text?

Ans: Students can ensure the accuracy of a text by considering what they already know and deciding whether the text fits with their prior knowledge.

16. Activity settings are aspects  of the sociocultural context in which students participate in instructional activities. Of five activity settings, one is participant identity, or who the students are. Of the other four, which is most related to motivation?

 Ans: Why the activity is done

17. Which of the following types of cues is not included in the three Cueing Systems model?

 Ans: Pragmatic

18. Which of the following is relevant to the 2,000 year etymology of the word salary?

 Ans: Salt

19. Which of the following involves evaluative reading comprehension?

Ans: Explaining the author's point of view

20. Maria's topic sentence is: "My family throws elaborate holiday celebrations." Which of the following would be the best supporting detail to follow that sentence?

Ans: First, we decide who will host the holiday dinner and when the celebration will take place.

21. In the 16th century, which of the following would have been the closest approximate meaning of   the modern word disaster?

 Ans: Star-crossed

22. Students should learn to write for a variety of audiences because:

Ans: Students are more involved in their writing if the audience varies

23. Which of the following would you expect children in grades K-2 to learn by being exposed  to both fictional and nonfictional literature?

 Ans: How to tell fiction from nonfiction

24. A line manager notes that an employee does minimal work but often seems to be using their smartphone during their shift. The line manager notes that they "struggle with productivity." Which of the following is this phrase, as it is used by the line manager, an example of ?

Ans: Euphemism

25. Which of the following relates primarily to how sounds are represented in a text?

Ans: Graphophonic

26. Elena wrote the following paragraph:

I believe that everyone should try to care for our planet. The best ways to do this are through recycling and using natural energy instead of fossil fuels. The supply of fossil fuels such as oil and coal will be used up someday, so we should try now to use less. Solar panels can reduce the use of fossil fuels. Windmills can be used to make electricity. Hybrid cars also use less fuel. If we do not try to be "green," our planet will soon be in trouble from global warning and the absence of fossil fuels. What kind of world would that be?

the purpose of Elena's paragraph was

Ans: Persuasion

27. Which of the following words is an example of a portmanteau?

Ans: Brunch

28. Which of the following is not a method of peer editing?

Ans: Students decide whether another student's essay is good writing or poor writing.

29. What is the best way for a teacher to make sure that books in the classroom are at an appropriate reading level, neither too easy nor so difficult that beginning readers will become trusted?

 Ans: Provide a wide variety of reading materials for children to choose from

30. Assonance means that two or more words:

Ans: have the same vowel sound

31. Which of the following choices would be the best comprehensive project for a fourth-grade class at the end of the school year?

Ans: Assign children to a group in which they will read and adapt a short play. Each group will perform its play with costumes and staging while the rest of the class will serve an audience members. Audience members will write short responses to what they have seen, which will be shared with the performers.

32. Which text are likely to foster the greatest enthusiasm for reading and literature among students?

 Ans: A variety of texts, including books, magazines, newspapers, stories from oral traditions, poetry, music, and films

33. The English language word quark is an example of which of the following linguistic processes or features?

Ans: Neologisms

34. Which assessment will determine a student's ability to identify initial, medial, blended, final, segmented, and manipulated "units"?

Ans: Phonological awareness assessment

35. Which of the following aspects of poetic form is characteristic of haiku?

Ans: A 5-7-5 syllable pattern

36. In Mr. booker's first grade classroom, students are studying marine animals in science. Mr. Booker wants to select a book to read to the class that will enhance their understanding of this subject while at the same time capturing their interest in story. Which of the following would be the best choice?

 Ans: The Wild whale Watch, part of the Magic School Bus series, a chapter book about whales

37. When students compare nonfiction literature to fictional literature, what difference will they find?

Ans: Nonfiction stories contain events, characters, and settings from real life, whereas fictional stories are not based in reality.

38.  A child using the prewriting strategy called "free writing" will:

Ans: Write thoughts and ideas without stopping to edit them.

39. In selecting literature for children, the most important first step a teacher should perform is to evaluate

Ans:; Class composition and preferces

40. The basic of writing to a particular audience do not include:

Ans: correct facts